DOMESTICATED REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 15 



explored by Captain Beecliy of the British Navy in August, 1827, and 

 was named by him after the British King, then Duke of Clarence. The 

 inner harbor, opening into the northeast corner of the bay, was named 

 after Lord Grantley, and the sand-spits at the opening of the bay were 

 named Points Spencer and Jackson, after distinguished officers of the 

 Koyal Navy. Point Spencer, the extremity of the low sand-spit which 

 extends some 10 miles from the coast, forms the south and west sides 

 of the harbor. This sand-spit is low and marshy, with numerous lakes. 

 Between Point Spencer and Point Jackson, a distance of 2 miles, is the 

 entrance of the bay. The north and east shores of the bay arise from 

 the sea to the mountains. Between the mountains and seashore are 

 numerous lagoons and small lakes which in their season are covered 

 with numerous wild fowl. The bay in extent is 12 miles from east to 

 west, and 14 miles from north to south. At the extreme eastern end 

 two narrow sand-spits, extending from the northern and southern 

 shores, inclose an inner harbor called Grantley Harbor, the entrance 

 to which is about one-third of a mile in width. Grantley Harbor is 

 about 9 miles from east to west and 3 miles from north to south. At 

 the extreme eastern end of Grantley Harbor is a second strait, about 

 300 yards wide, which connects with a third body of water, the inland 

 lake called by the natives " Imourouk." Into this lake empty the Cov- 

 vee-arak and Agheeee-puk rivers. 



Along this line of water-courses is a native trail to Golovin Bay and 

 Norton Sound. To the north of Grantley Harbor, Muck-a-Charlie 

 Peak rises to the height of 1,G00 feet. At the head of the sand-spit 

 between Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor is a large lagoon, and 

 between the reindeer station and the base of the hills on the north are 

 about a dozen fresh- water ponds or small lakes. 



The shores of the bay on the spit and reindeer station are formed of 

 shingle or water- worn stones. These shingle beaches are a marked char- 

 acteristic of large sections of the coast in northern Bering Sea and the 

 Arctic Ocean. The shores of Port Clarence are lined with driftwood, 

 presumably from the Yukon River. Port Clarence is the best harbor 

 on the American side of Bering Sea, north of the Aleutian Islands, 

 and, being but 40 or 50 miles from Bering Straits, it forms a convenient 

 stopping place for whalers before entering the Arctic Ocean. Of late 

 years it has become the favorite rendezvous of the whaling fleet that 

 gathers here about July 1 to await the arrival of a vessel from San 

 Francisco, with fresh provisions, coal, etc. It also enables the fleet to 

 ship their spring catch of whalebone to San Francisco, before entering 

 the dangerous Arctic. Upon my first visit, July 3, 1890, twenty-five 

 whalers were at anchor off Point Spencer, awaiting the arrival of the 

 annual supply ship. 



At the extreme northeast corner of Port Clarence, near Grantley 

 Harbor, and upon a small mountain creek, is the place that I selected 

 for the headquarters of the reindeer station. A few miles to the east 



